New Year's Greeting Worm Topples Stratio as Most Prevalent Malware, Says Report

In a recent report, Sophos has revealed the most prevalent malware threats and e-mail hoaxes worldwide during December 2006. The figures show that the long-established Dref malware has made an unexpected return to the top of the threat chart, thanks to two new variants currently causing computer users problems.

The Dref-V mass-mailing worm, which poses as a New Year e-card, was discovered on December 30, 2006, and by the following day, accounted for nearly 94 percent of all infected e-mails. As a result, Dref -- which was first seen in July 2005 -- has knocked last month's primary offender, Stratio, off of the top of the chart. Stratio, currently in fourth place, now accounts for 7.8 percent of the total.

The top ten list of malware threats in December 2006 is as follows:

1.	Dref	35.2%
2.	Netsky	22.2%
3.	Mytob	10.7%
4.	Stratio	7.8%
5.	Bagle	5.2%
6.	Zafi	4.8%
7.	MyDoom	3.3%
8.	Sality	2.8%
9.	Nyxem	1.3%
10.	StraDl	0.9%